Maori history undermines home renovations

Aucklanders must now think twice before digging a swimming pool or doing a large alteration if their property is one of thousands near Maori heritage sites

Maori Bay, Muriwai. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Thousands of homeowners will be forced to seek iwi approval before making alterations to their properties in a little-known change to Auckland's proposed unitary plan.

The plan outlining the future shape of the country's biggest city f is yet to come into force, but 3600 sites of cultural and heritage value to Auckland's 19 iwi groups are already affecting the plans of homeowners. About 50 applications for earthworks have so far been considered.

The sites, identified by large purple dots, pock-mark the unitary plan map. Every property inside the dot or within 50m of its boundary is bound by the changes, which came into effect when the plan went to public consultation on September 30.

Affected areas are liberally scattered throughout Auckland and include part of Cliff Rd in St Heliers, where former All Black coach Sir GrahamHenry sold his mansion for more than $4 million last year, as well as large swathes of Devonport and pockets of upmarket NorthShore beaches.

Affected home owners must seek local iwi approval for works such as home alterations of more than 25sqm or the installation of swimming pools, according to Auckland Council unitary plan manager John Duguid. Activities such as gardening are exempt.

If iwi do not agree, homeowners must apply to the council for a resource consent.

Duguid says the requirement was not included in the draft unitary plan released for public feedback in March. Rather, it was a result of that feedback.

"We had a lot of feedback from mana whenua (Auckland iwi groups) that it didn't have sites of value, and that there were many more sites that were identified as such and they were not protected by the previous councils. So we added in 3,600 new sites.

"Under the Resource Management Act, councils are obliged to protect these places, and we were getting the message that we were not taking enough steps to protect them."

Sixty-one sites of Maori cultural or heritage significance were already in the unitary plan in March and remain unchanged.

The 3600 additional sites, which include urupa (cemeteries), middens and former village and pasites, are not newly discovered.

Most, if not all, are already recognised by the Historic Places Act after being identified by archaeologists many years ago, Duguid says.

But they are poorly mapped, making that protection inadequate. And some are simply wrong.

Former All Black Marc Ellis had to pay for an archaeological dig at his Waiheke property to prove that a "dent" in his land was nothing more than that. Local iwi were then consulted to confirm the archaeologist's findings - that the site was not significant - and apply to have the Historic Places Trust register changed.

Ellis says the process was "frustrating", had taken months and had cost him money. "But to build around the site would have cost me a lot more."

The unitary plan is not yet operative but parts came into effect immediately. "No doubt some people will challenge that list," Duguid says.

Michael Coote will be one of those. The West Aucklander stood unsuccessfully for the Henderson-Massey Local Board last month, campaigning on a platform that included abolishing Maori statutory boards.

He considers the addition of the 3,600 sites "economic apartheid" and accuses the council of "crossing the line from consulting (with iwi) to actively promoting them".